In the ten years since the adoption and near-universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a growing number of countries have modified their juvenile justice laws to guarantee children the rights set forth in the convention and in other international instruments. In other countries, reforms are under consideration but have not yet been enacted into law. And a large number of countries in the region and elsewhere in the world must still take action to bring their legislation into compliance with the convention. Where they have taken place, legislative reforms are positive first steps toward greater recognition of the human rights of children. Even so, the gaps between law and practice are often vast. Many children are denied due process, detained under appalling conditions, subjected to violence at the hands of guards and police, and some are even put to death. Far too often, children around the world are brought to trial and sentenced in ways that violate their rights. Human Rights Watch has documented systemic failures to guarantee children legal representation and otherwise provide them with fair hearings in Brazil, Bulgaria, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States Of particular concern are sentences that violate the international principle that deprivation of liberty should be a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time or that constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Throughout the world, children are subjected to appalling conditions of confinement that violate international standards. Often held with adults and subjected to violence at the hands of guards and other detainees, children in confinement are frequently denied adequate food, medical and mental health care, education, and access to basic sanitary facilities. These children eventually return to society, meaning that the failure to prepare them for their return is shortsighted as well as cruel, carrying enormous social costs. Human Rights Watch recommends that countries around the world take the following minimum steps to safeguard the human rights of children in conflict with the law: 1) All governments should ensure that children in conflict with the law are detained only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Children should never be incarcerated for acts that would not be crimes if committed by adults. 2) Conditions of detention and incarceration should meet international standards. Children should never be detained with adults. They should be permitted regular, frequent contact with their family members, legal representatives, and others from the outside world and should be given access to education, health and mental health care, adequate food, and sanitary facilities. 3) Countries that retain the use of the death penalty should end the practice immediately and amend their legislation accordingly. The Death Penalty and Juvenile Offenders Only six countries in the world—Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Yemen—were known to have executed juvenile offenders (people convicted of acts committed before the age of eighteen) in the 1990s, in violation of international legal standards. The United States has executed nine juvenile offenders in this decade, more than the reported total for any other nation in the world. HRW Death Penalty Home Page Letter Brief to the Department of Justice Solicitor General Waxman on the Michael Domingues v. Nevada Case Reports: "Making Their Own Rules": Police Beatings, Rape, and Torture of Children in Papua New Guinea In the Dark: Hidden Abuses Against Detained Youths in Rio de Janeiro "Real Dungeons": Juvenile Detention in the State of Rio de Janeiro Cruel Confinement: Abuses Against Detained Children in Northern Brazil Charged with Being Children:
Egyptian Police Abuse of Children in Need of Protection March 2001 Order online: A World Leader in Executing Juveniles March 1995 (Purchase this report) Related Press Releases: Letter to Minister Bire Kimisopa, Minister of Justice July 2006 Letter to Minister Alphonse Willie, Minister of Police July 2006 Letter to Jail Commander, Buimo Jail July 2006 Papua New Guinea: Recruitment of Female Police Officers February 2006 U.S.: Missouri Gov. Urged Not to Execute Juvenile Offender With Mental Retardation March 2001 Nigeria: Teenage Mother Whipped January 2001 U.S.: South Dakota Agrees to Respect Rights of Detained Youth November 2000 Human Rights Watch Calls on Virginia Governor to Halt Two Juvenile Executions January 2000 Virginia Governor Urged to Halt Execution of Juvenile Offender June 1999 Human Rights Watch Condemns Execution of Juvenile Offender February 1999 State Governor Urged to Stop Execution of Juvenile January 1999 Trial and Sentencing Practices California's Proposition 21: All Smoke and Mirrors by Michael Bochenek Conditions of Confinement Human Rights Watch has documented abominable conditions for children in detention in countries around the world. In the United States (Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, and Maryland), Pakistan, Jamaica, among other countries, children are subjected to excessive force, inadequate medical and mental health care, and are provided with little or no education. Often, these children are placed in the facilities along side adults, exposing them to physical and sexual abuse. Human Rights Watch Prison Project Close to Home: Juveniles in Adult Jails Op-Ed by Michael Bochenek The Washington Post, November 11, 1999 Related press releases: South Dakota: Stop Abuses of Detained Kids Governor Must End Inhumane Practices March 2000 Children Abused In Maryland Jails November 1999 Child Detainees Being Tortured in Pakistan November 1999 Jamaican Children Endure Abusive Conditions in Police Lockups July 1999 HRW Welcomes Release of Chldren from Jamaican Police Lockups July 1999 Children Detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the U.S. Each year, thousands of children enter the United States unaccompanied by parents or relatives. Many are apprehended by the INS and held in detention, sometimes for months at a time. Investigating detention conditions in Arizona, California and Pennsylvania, Human Rights Watch has found that their rights are often violated — in breach of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. statutory provisions, INS regulations, the terms of court orders binding on the U.S., and international law. Detained and Deprived of Rights: Children in INS Custody HRW Campaign Page Detained and Deprived of Rights: Children in the Custody of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Report, December 1998 Slipping Through The Cracks: Unaccompanied Children Detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Report, April 1997 The Other Immigrant Children Editorial by Jo Becker Related HRW reports Top of Page | |  | |
 Easy Targets: Violence Against Children Worldwide 
|
